Durban - Four men who were responsible for a spate of armed robberies, one of which led to the killing of well known South African artist Clinton de Menezes, will learn their fate on Friday when they are sentenced in the Durban High Court.
Judge Ester Steyn said on Thursday after hearing some of the victims testify how the robberies had affected them that she would sentence Siyabonga China Khoza, 25, Lungani Tevin Ngidi, 23, Bongani Makhatini, 28, and Fisto Alimasi, 26.
In March, Khoza, Ngidi and Makhatini were convicted of robbery with aggravating circumstances, attempted murder, murder, and housebreaking.
Alimasi, a Democratic Republic of Congo national, was convicted of robbery with aggravating circumstances and housebreaking.
De Menezes was killed on December 31, 2013, when he was shot in the chest as he attempted to stop Khoza, Ngidi and Makhatini from entering the house of Simon Malpas where he was visiting with his daughter and wife.
Before De Menezes’ shooting, the trio broke into the home of Graham and Barbara Payne, shooting Payne in the hip on the night of December 13, 2013.
On December 29, 2013, the trio broke into the home of Gail Hamilton.
Alimasi coordinated the robberies and received the items stolen by the trio of Khoza, Ngidi and Makhatini.
De Menezes’ sister Jacqui Durandt told the court that the shooting had devastated the family.
She said that both De Menezes’ daughter Eva and wife Nicola Saward, who now reside in London, were too scared to visit family in South Africa.
Saward had not been able to work for almost a year after the tragedy, and was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder while Eva panics if she does not know where her mother is.
“I have not only lost a brother. I have lost a whole family,” she said, adding that her children would never get to know Eva as well as they might have.
Durandt said her mother, who had been a sociable person, had almost become a recluse and was having to take anti-depressants, while her father expressed extreme anger and suffered from ulcers ever since the tragedy.
Graham Payne told the court that he had made a full recovery from the shooting, but that as a result of his fear of intruders entering his home, he and his family had sold up and moved away after living in the house for 33 years.
He said for several months his wife refused to come home unless she knew that someone was at the house.
“There is no doubt that what happened to us forced us to move out,” he said.
Gail Hamilton told the court she felt she was burdening her family because she felt too scared to be on her own and was always demanding that someone is with her.
“I can’t stay by myself anymore. If I hear something outside, I am still scared,” she said, adding that counselling had failed to relieve her fears.
De Menezes had lived in London, and was living in Kenya at the time of his death. According to Durandt, he had planned to return to South Africa after living in Kenya for three years and that he wanted to live in Westville.
His work was displayed in galleries in New York and London and his death made international headlines.
ANA